


one foot in a fairy tale (another in the abyss)

by NoxWrites



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: DAENSA ENDGAME!, F/F, Season 8 Fix It Fic - Freeform, depends on how the show goes, possible appearances by others
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 13:35:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18550822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoxWrites/pseuds/NoxWrites
Summary: “Everyone thinks they’re monsters or beasts, but they know love and they know trust. They’re not just fire breathing beasts.” Daenerys says softly.Sansa is letting out heavy even breaths, uncomfortable in the situation they find themselves in. “Like a direwolf.”“Pardon?” Daenerys looks at Sansa with a cocked brow.“We were young and our father came home one day with six direwolf pups in tow. It was like fate. Two girls and four boys. Everyone around us, our whole time with them, would say how they weren’t dogs, they couldn’t be trusted.” Daenerys watches as Sansa’s eyes slightly fill with tears. “But they loved us, and they knew the difference from friend and foe. They weren’t beasts, they were a part of us.”—Season 8 Fix It Fic





	one foot in a fairy tale (another in the abyss)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic mainly centers on the Northern storyline and Daensa, I might touch on Cersei and others but that just depends on how shitty the episodes become. I hope you guys all enjoy!
> 
> (rating may change in the future)

The North is gathered in mighty numbers, the white snow has paused in its storm while the sun breaks through the grey clouds of the morning. The people watch as troops of Unsullied march through the town outside of Winterfell. Each grouping of Unsullied is followed by Dothraki until they reach the middle of the line where pairs of influential people sit upon their horses.

 

Towards the front the Queen and her Warden of the North sit upon their horses, looking on at the people who watch the Queen with empty stares. The Hound is riding next to Beric, Davos rides with Gendry at his side. A cart rides through after a few groups of Unsullied pass, Varys and Tyrion sit in the cart with a quiet gaze as they look out on the people. 

 

“They’ve been burned too many times, they aren’t too welcoming to foreigners. We haven’t had the best of luck with foreign leaders. Even when Aegon conquered the North we never lost our ways, we never really became a united force with the rest of Westeros.” Jon speaks as they make their way out of the town and set on the last few miles to Winterfell proper. 

 

“And to make them be welcoming, what do you propose I do?” Daenerys lifts a brow in question.

 

Jon lets out a sigh, “Just show them you’re here to help, not conquer, not rule. You may be their Queen but they need someone that will put them first, not someone who wants to rule first.” 

 

Daenerys nods her head and looks up as the calming roar of Drogon and Rhaegal echoes through the air. They fly close enough their bellies nearly scrape against the roofs of the town. Daenerys smiles as she watches them fly through the northern sky. The north has more clouds than Essos and the dragons seem to enjoy flying through the clouds to disappear before reappearing miles away from another cloud. 

 

They coast over the stone buildings of Winterfell and the people inside drop their tasks to look on in awe and horror as the two beasts take control of their skies. Sansa stands on the ramparts, watching as Drogon and Rhaegal coast over her, not paying her any mind as they disappear into the clouds once more. With a heavy breath, she descends down the stairs of ramparts, flanked on both sides by guards. She makes it to the courtyard as the gates open. Jon and his new queen enter with a group of other allies behind them.

 

Jon approaches with glee as he sees Bran next to Sansa. She gives a soft smile, looking out of the corner of her eye as Jon gives a soft kiss to Bran’s forehead. But her face stays trained on the Queen currently dismounting near the gate. When Jon turns around he motions Daenerys forward. She approaches with a smile and it's all Sansa can do to bite her tongue as she relinquishes Winterfell to her queen. After a tense meeting in the great hall, Sansa barges into her own room.

 

“I don’t understand.” Sansa sighs in frustration, rubbing at her temples as she thumbs through letters. “He had to have known the lords would not approve of Daenerys taking over, he cannot be this thick.”

 

Arya walks around Sansa’s room, looking over the room as she does nearly every other day as if some new danger might appear if she doesn’t. “He did say we needed allies.”

 

Both go immediately quiet as a knock comes from the door, the door opens slowly and Jon’s head appears as she peeks inside. “Can I speak to you two?”

 

Sansa looks over at Arya in the corner and they both nod their heads in unison. Sansa seats herself at the desk in her room. Jon walks all the way through and closes the door behind him. 

 

“I spoke with Daenerys-“ Jon starts and Sansa immediately responds with a roll of her eyes. 

 

“What, pray tell, did your grace have to say?” Sansa worries her bottom lip between her teeth as Jon stands in her room. 

 

He looks as if he’s on trial; in Sansa’s mind, he might as well be, he gave up the North knowing the rest of the North would not agree. He has more than just Sansa who he needs to answer. 

 

“Listen, I know both of you don’t agree with my choice but I’m King and-“

 

“But you’re not. You’re just a lord.” Arya cuts in as she bounces lightly on Sansa’s bed before settling still. 

 

Jon’s face grows with frustration. “I was King and I made a decision to save our people. If I hadn’t we would be an independent kingdom, sure; but we would be dead in weeks with the Night King coming.” 

 

“You couldn’t have sent missives ahead before making the decision? You couldn’t have mentioned earlier you were bringing thousands of Unsullied and Dothraki and thousands more of horses with two full-grown dragons. Our stores will last us the winter.  _ Us _ , Jon. The North. Not thousands of additional soldiers.” Sansa sits upright and grows more feral with each word she speaks. “She is a Targaryen. Did you forget, that? Did you forget what happened to our grandfather? Our uncle?” 

 

“No. But Daenerys is not her father.” Jon resigns in the verbal bout, settling for some form of a plea for Sansa to understand things can change. 

 

“No, she’s much prettier.” Sansa takes the unhonorable bite at Jon’s honor, and she knows she does. She feels sick immediately after saying it. It was impulsive. 

 

Jon looks at her in shock then shakes his head before looking to Arya for help. Arya gives him a look of sadness before looking at her hands in her lap. 

 

“Did you bend the knee to save the North or because you love her?” Sansa speaks once more and she can see the anger growing in Jon’s face but as he considers his answer she thinks she sees more self-doubt than anger. 

 

“I’ll go.” Jon turns on his heel and retreats. 

 

As he’s halfway out the door Sansa speaks up, “Ghost has not been eating since you left. Perhaps you can make him eat today, he’s in the godswood with his siblings.” 

 

Jon closes the door without a second thought. Sansa doesn’t know if he goes to the godswood or to his room. She hopes for the godswood because Ghost has truly been missing his boy but Arya and she have also grown close to Ghost since Jon was gone and it was nice to have a companion. With Jon gone she falls back in her seat, slumping in her chair. Arya gets off the bed and stands in front of Sansa’s desk. 

 

“A bit harsh?” Arya asks with a look of consideration on her face.

 

Sansa lets out a sad laugh. “I know. I regretted it as soon as I said it but it needed to be said. Hopefully, he’ll come to realize that.”

 

Arya cracks a smile, “Probably not.”

 

Sansa lets out a real true laugh, a tune of which sounds nearly foreign to her as she hasn’t heard it in ages. “No, probably not.” 

 

Arya walks around the desk before giving Sansa a half hug. “Goodnight.” 

 

Sansa stands as she hugs her sister in return. “Goodnight.” 

 

—

 

Daenerys walks amongst the tents of her warriors in the early morning. After Jon left to help Gendry with the dragonglass she found herself alone and wandering. She realizes this is one of the few times she has nothing to do, no enemies to immediately plan for, no meetings to immediately address and no threats on her life to worry about. She looks amongst her warriors and takes a deep breath of the northern air. 

 

She’s shocked when down one of the rows she spots a familiar head of red hair being lightly dappled with snowflakes from the fading storm that raged last night. She looks down both aisles as if something would give her an answer for the Lady of Winterfell’s presence. With nothing out of the ordinary other than the Lady and her sister at her side, Daenerys slowly approaches with calculated steps towards the Stark sisters. 

 

“My lady.” Daenerys greets with a slight nod of her head before looking to Arya. “My lady? Now, Jon said you don’t like being called that so is there something else you prefer?”

 

Arya and Sansa both look a bit bewildered at the politeness of the queen. Arya sets her hand on the pommel of Needle before speaking. 

 

“Arya is fine,” Arya says strictly with no emotion and a stoic face. 

 

Daenerys nods her head. “Might I ask what you’re doing out here?”

 

Sansa seems to lift her head a bit more, to gain a few more inches as if she needs them to look above Daenerys. “I was taking count of your troops and the supplies you have brought so I can properly change our grain stores and the future of rations. A few thousands of troops do change the numbers drastically but I saw you didn’t come completely empty-handed, Your Grace.”

 

Daenerys can hear the venom in her voice as Sansa speaks about changing grain stores and adjusting to new troops. It’s the same venom everyone who has ever doubted her before has spoken with. She bites her tongue because she’s Jon’s sister, but her patience is running thin.

 

“Yes, we brought as much as we could. Oh and I know earlier you were worried about the dragons but my blood riders are hunting to provide so you don’t need to worry about them.” Daenerys gives Sansa a strained smile. 

 

The sound of an approaching small group of horses draws Daenerys’ attention from the siblings to her incoming blood riders. She approaches them with a look of concern, not noticing the sisters following. They talk quickly and Daenerys is petrified with confusion and some form of anger that mothers feel when there’s nothing to blame for their child’s sickness. 

 

She hears a soft voice behind her which returns her to the present. “Is everything alright, Your Grace?”

 

“My children haven’t been eating.” Daenerys starts a trek on foot, sludging through the snow the back of Winterfell where Drogon and Rhaegal have claimed as their temporary nest.

 

She’s ignorant to the sound of two people following behind her. She’s so focused on her children as she approaches them. They nudged at the bones of their meal, knocking food around despite meat still being present on the bones. She approaches Drogon first and he lowers his head, a low whine comes from deep in both of their chests. She runs a hand down his snout like she did when he was young, his eyes close halfway and his grumbles settle to light breathing. She’s about to turn to Rhaegal when both of them become aggressive, growling viciously at whatever lies beyond her. 

 

She looks over her shoulder to see Arya Stark, eyes wide in wonder and amazement as she is slowly coming closer to the two dragons. Daenerys gives a light smile and motions for Arya to approach. Arya is careful in her steps, she doesn’t move until the growls settle and when a few steps anger them she stops for a solid minute before coming any closer. Daenerys looks just beyond where Arya came from to see Sansa Stark with a pale expression, her hands clutching the other tightly in front of her. 

 

“They won’t bite, Lady Stark. Unless you attack me.” Daenerys chuckles lightly but even the joke seems to make Sansa stiffens even more. The Lady of Winterfell, despite her stiff pose, does inevitably move closer but not close enough to touch. 

 

“I saw the skulls of the other dragons below the Red Keep,” Arya says as she’s finally in range to touch. “They were beautiful. I felt safe near them, oddly enough. I wish I could have seen the first dragons or at least the first ones to come to Westeros. I would have loved to seen Vhagar.”

 

“Not Balerion the Dread?” Daenerys asks with genuine curiosity.

 

Daenerys hushes Drogon as Arya comes side by side to her. He settles for a moment as Arya raises a hand. 

 

Arya shakes her head and gives a laugh. “No, Vhagar was much cooler. Visenya rode him, she also wielded her own Valyrian sword. Her and Rhaenys were both warriors.” 

 

Daenerys watches as Arya is gentle with a giant, it warms a deep piece of her heart. It gives her hope for something, something between the North and South. Arya gives Drogon an open hand to smell like one would give to a new dog they meet. He huffs out a large breath through his nose and it blows Arya’s hair around wildly, making both Daenerys and Arya laugh. 

 

“Is that what you want to be, a warrior?” Daenerys nods to the sword and dagger on Arya’s hips. 

 

Arya simply nods her head before she’s lost in petting the top of Drogon’s nose. Daenerys steps back just an inch, she slowly makes her way to Sansa who stands just a few feet behind Arya like an overprotective mother watching their child meet their first danger. 

 

“Everyone thinks they’re monsters or beasts, but they know love and they know trust. They’re not just fire breathing beasts.” Daenerys says softly. 

 

Sansa is letting out heavy even breaths, uncomfortable in the situation they find themselves in. “Like a direwolf.”

 

“Pardon?” Daenerys looks at Sansa with a cocked brow. 

 

“We were young and our father came home one day with six direwolf pups in tow. It was like fate. Two girls and four boys. Everyone around us, our whole time with them, would say how they weren’t dogs, they couldn’t be trusted.” Daenerys watches as Sansa’s eyes slightly fill with tears. “But they loved us, and they knew the difference from friend and foe. They weren’t beasts, they were a part of us.” 

 

“Are they still around?” Daenerys looks back to Winterfell, the castle behind them still full of life while the three women sneak away. 

 

Sansa shakes her head before blinking her eyes, Daenerys suspects its to hold the tears at bay. “Not all of them. Only two have survived all of the hell our family has gone through. Ghost and Nymeria. I was actually shocked to hear Jon was leaving Ghost behind when he originally went to meet with you.”

 

Daenerys’ brows furrow. “He never mentioned a wolf.”

 

Sansa shakes her head. “They’re inseparable. Ghost went beyond the wall when Jon did, both of them came back together.”

 

“And Nymeria?” Daenerys looks when she hears a small squeal, Arya had been surprised when Rhaegal squeezed his head beneath Drogon’s wing to get attention as well. 

 

Daenerys hears Sansa let out a soft chuckle but she can still see the reflection of tears. “She’s my sister’s direwolf. Well, she was, when we were kids Arya had to send her away to save her life. Nymeria had attacked Joffrey to protect Arya. Cersei wanted her dead but instead of being satisfied with the wolf missing she took Lady from me.” Sansa sniffles before giving a sad broken smile, “But Nymeria is still alive shockingly. Arya saw her on her way back to Winterfell, leading an entire pack. Wild and free.” 

 

Daenerys doesn’t know what compels her but she reaches for Sansa’s hand. Sansa shockingly relinquishes the tight grasp she has on her own hands and lets her hand be held. 

 

“I know you might not want to hear this, coming from me, but I know what you felt and still feel.” Daenerys looks to her dragons. “Drogon had burnt a farmer’s daughter while hunting and while the farmer did not ask for Drogon’s hide I knew I had to do something. I- I- I chained Rhaegal and Viserion in a pit below the pyramids of Mereen. Drogon was long gone and hadn’t been seen, but I couldn’t risk his siblings doing the same. It just takes one attack to enrage a mob who would call for their deaths. I betrayed them. I cared for them like a mother and I chained them. I was giving freedom to people but I chained my own children. Even now I can see on Rhaegal’s neck where the chains started cutting into his scales. I will never forgive myself.”

 

Sansa slowly looks from her sister to Daenerys. Her eyes a bit red and her cheeks flushed from the cold. Her voice is quiet and broken but Daenerys hears. 

 

“Thank you, Your Grace.” 

 

Daenerys doesn’t know how but they were snuck upon, albeit not by someone with malicious intent but the fact she was caught off guard shocks her. This single moment with Sansa had thrown off the defense she had built since the day she had been spirited away from Dragonstone as a babe. It was conflicting and yet calming to have been so eased she didn’t feel the need to bar herself from danger. 

 

“Your Grace.” Jorah hollers from his horse as he ascends the small hill. 

 

Arya leaves the dragons’ sides and comes to her sister’s side. Daenerys feels Sansa loosen her grip on their hands before completely separating themselves. 

 

“Ser Jorah.” Daenerys nods her head, letting him proceed. 

 

Jorah seems to look around them before talking, assessing the situation of the unusual company and the oddly accepting attitude of the dragons. “Bran Stark would like to speak to you.”

 

—

 

Daenerys closes the door behind her, slowly walking to the bed lying in the corner and falling into the furs. She lets herself break, she lets herself crack and crumble. She had failed them again. Viserion had died, she was still grieving from watching him fall from the sky while screeching in pain. Her heart wasn’t even in one piece from the incident, she was still in pieces. Now she learns her child had been mutilated and brought back from the dead to bring down the wall. The one thing that was to allow them to prepare as the army marched was no dust and ruined because the Night King desecrated Viserion. 

 

She hears a knock on her door and she just shakes her head as she cries. “Jon, I asked to be alone.”

 

The knocking stops and Daenerys lets out a sigh of relief. Yet, she knows she wants to be left alone and yet her heart aches to just fall into something, someone, and be held as she mourns. 

 

“Your Grace.” Daenerys is nearly ready to yell at this person who invades her chambers in her time of mourning but as she sits up she sees a red head of hair breach the door. 

 

“Lady Stark.” Daenerys sits upright, wipes her tears and takes a breath to steel herself. 

 

Sansa moves her hands from behind her back to reveal a bowl full of food. “You left but never came for dinner, as Lady of Winterfell I feel it’s my duty to make sure our Queen is provided for.”

 

Daenerys feels her shoulders slump. There’s pity in Sansa’s eyes and it betrays her words. Her words are of duty and roles but her eyes tell a song of sympathy and compassion and it makes Daenerys lose a bit of the steel in which she was going to encase her heart. She stands from the bed and motions to the table in her chambers. She sits down and Sansa follows her, setting the food down before turning on her heel. 

 

“Would you-“ It’s enough to grab Sansa’s attention, the Stark girl turns around to face Daenerys and now she feels ridiculous for asking. Asking a woman who hates her to stay with her until she feels better, she feels weak for even thinking it. Yet she says it all the same, “Would you stay with me? Just for a while.”

 

Sansa nods her head and comes to Daenerys’ table, sitting across from her. Daenerys sighs in relief and begins taking bites of her meal as Sansa sits in quiet. 

 

“They’re my children. The only ones I’ll ever have. And I repeatedly fail them.” Daenerys says, a tear straying from her eye where she now feels them welling with tears again. “Jon says a witch’s curse is not a reliable source, but it’s the only thing I have left to cling to. I will die but they will live well after I’m gone. I know he was trying to comfort me, tell me there still might be the hope of bearing children but I’ve given up that dream long ago. I don’t dream of a husband at my side and children playing at my feet, I dream of disappearing into the sun with my children at my side as I fly with them.”

 

“They abused my brother’s corpse as well.” Sansa looks at her hands on the table, not making clear eye contact with Daenerys. “Cut off his head and cut off his wolf’s head. They stitched- They stitched Greywind’s head onto his body and paraded him around.”

 

Daenerys feels her tears burn, her heart fills with a fire she remembers all too well when someone would wrong her. It’s a fire of vengeance and she feels it now, wanting to avenge this Robb Stark, despite not knowing him. 

 

“Who did this?” Her voice is vicious and cold. 

 

Sansa opens her eyes, trying to fight back tears. “House Frey but they’ve been dealt with. All of them are gone. My sister avenged him, took out the entire Frey line in one night.” 

 

Daenerys’s fire quells at the thought of the family to blame all rotting in the seven hells for their sin. “I guess our stories are not so different after all, Lady Stark.”

 

“No, I guess not. We were both women living in a world that wished us to sit and obey like dogs.” Sansa nods her head in agreement and finally looks Daenerys in the eye, a sad smile on her face. 

 

“I want to promise you something.” Daenerys reaches a hand across the table and takes Sansa’s hand in her own. “I will not let the North suffer at Southern hands. When we have dealt with the Night King and Cersei the North, while it will still be a piece of Westeros will find some semblance of retribution. The wrongs of my family and the families after will be amended. I swear it.”

 

Sansa looks at her with her mouth agape; shock evident in her expression. “Thank you, Your Grace.”

 

They speak a bit more into the night until Missandei comes knocking asking if Daenerys had eaten. Daenerys ushers her friend away; hiding Sansa like some secret she would keep as a child, keeping her for herself so others would not take her. When Missandei leaves they wait for a few moments before Sansa takes her own leave, going to her own chambers to sleep. 

 

Daenerys falls to her bed with a sigh after she removes her heavy clothing. She feels lighter than she did when she entered the room and she feels as if a weight has been lifted from her chest. She falls asleep, dreaming again of disappearing into the sun but a spot of red seems to be accompanying her through the sky on Rhaegal’s back. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr @ [daensas](http://daensas.tumblr.com)  
> twitter @ [sapphicnox](http://twitter.com/sapphicnox)


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